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Ai Otsuka

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, (born September 9, 1982) is a Japanese pop female singer-songwriter and pianist from Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. She is best-known for her 2003/2004 hit Sakuranbo, which stayed in the Top 200 Oricon Weekly Singles Chart for 96 weeks.

Ai Otsuka is signed to record label avex trax, one of the biggest record labels in Japan which also manages other high-profile artists like Ayumi Hamasaki, BoA, Namie Amuro, and Every Little Thing.

Her first single, 2003's "Momo no Hanabira", was only a minor hit, peaking at #24 on the Oricon singles top 100, but stayed on the charts for 21 weeks. Her next single, "sakuranbo", released December of 2003 would become the 12th best selling single of 2004. Gradually climbing the charts to top 5, the single stayed on the chart for 96 weeks, and a special "encore press" version was commissioned, which peaked at #4. In March 2004, her first album "LOVE PUNCH" was released, which debuted at No. 3 on the Oricon charts and sold more than 320,000 copies in its first week. She continued to release singles and gradually built a diverse and devoted following. In November 2004, the follow-up to "LOVE PUNCH", "LOVE JAM", was released, which met even greater popular success. "LOVE COOK", her latest album, came out on December 14 2005. In its first week, it sold 335,000 copies.

Her single, Planetarium, was released on September 20 2005. It is one of the main songs for the live-action drama, Hana Yori Dango.

Otsuka has also appeared in television commercials and acted in the drama Tokyo Friends, released on DVD. Her promotional videos are filmed as mini-dramas. She is qualified to teach kindergarten, and has said she will become a kindergarten teacher if her singing career collapses.

Her most recent single, Frienger (derived from combining the words Friend and Ranger), was released on April 12 2006. The PV music video was shot in Taiwan and is used as the commercial song for the Toshiba W41T 4GB MP3 Mobile Phone.

She also hosts a radio show on JOQR Recomen!! AM1134hHz called Otsuka Ai no ai-r jack.

Contents

Profile

Other facts

Discography

Singles

All music videos of her singles and "Cherish" are available.
  1. Momo no Hanabira (桃ノ花ビラ, Peach Flowerpetals) - # 31,091 copies sold (September 10, 2003)
  2. Sakuranbo (さくらんぼ, Cherry) - # 527,674 copies sold (December 17, 2003)
  3. Amaenbo (甘えんぼ, Spoiled child) - # 105,609 copies sold (March 3, 2004)
  4. Happy Days - # 163,433 copies sold (July 7, 2004)
  5. Kingyo Hanabi (金魚花火, Goldfish Fireworks) - # 148,121 copies sold (August 18, 2004)
  6. Daisuki da yo. (大好きだよ。, I love you.) - # 156,844 copies sold (October 20, 2004)
  7. Kuroge Wagyuu Joshio Yaki 680 Yen (黒毛和牛上塩タン焼680円, Salty Grilled Tongue of Black Japanese Beef 680 Yen) - # 149,134 copies sold (February 9, 2005)
  8. SMILY/Bi-dama (ビー玉, Marble) - #1 310,323 copies sold (May 11, 2005)
  9. Neko ni Fuusen (ネコに風船, A Cat and a Balloon) - # 111,324 copies sold (July 13, 2005)
  10. Planetarium (プラネタリウム, Planetarium) - #1 315,130 copies sold (September 21, 2005)
  11. Frienger (フレンジャー, Frienger) - (April 12, 2006) - # 165,477 copies sold
  12. Yumekui (ユメクイ) - (August 2, 2006)
  13. Ren'ai Shashin (恋愛写真, Love Photographs) - (Fall 2006)

Albums

  1. LOVE PUNCH (March 31, 2004) #3 over 693,000 copies sold (97~ weeks in chart)
  2. LOVE JAM (November 17, 2004) #1 over 652,736 copies sold (65~ weeks in chart)
  3. LOVE COOK (December 14, 2005) #1 over 805,301 copies sold (25 weeks in chart; still charting)

Other

Photobooks

Theme songs

Dvd drama

Radio shows

Live tour

  1. Gakuensai Tour (2004)
  2. JAM PUNCH Tour 2005 ～kondoru no pantu ga kuikondoru～ (2005)
  3. LOVE [99] COOK TOUR 2006　～masukara mainiti tukete masukara～ (2006)

Random trivia

External links

Fan sites

 

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